This year will be the hottest year on record in human history and urgent actions are needed to address climate change, said the United Nations's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Thursday.

The UN agency warned that 2023 marked a year of unprecedented climate records being shattered, as extreme weather events left behind a trail of widespread devastation and despair.

Greenhouse gas levels, global temperatures and sea level rise are all at a record high, while Antarctic sea ice is at a record low, said WMO chief Petteri Taalas.

The WMO published its provisional 2023 State of the Global Climate report as world leaders gathered in Dubai for the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

This year has seen communities around the world pounded by fires, floods, and searing temperatures, and record global heating should compel world leaders to take action, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday in a video message to delegates attending COP28.

The climate change conference in Dubai has garnered global attention as it marks the conclusion of the Global Stocktake, the first-ever two-year assessment of the world's collective progress toward the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.